Blood Feud
by kenyizsu
Summary: After his triumph over the Emperor, Aku sets out to discover this strange, unfamiliar world he got stuck on, while battling with his own memory loss at the same time. But when he stumbles upon a Norse city, he might found far more than he looked for. One-shot inspired by Ep. 10 "Jack and the Lava Monster". Rated T for mildly gory content. R&R please!


**Hello, everyone and welcome to the first Samurai Jack Fanfic I upload here! :D So far this has been the only one I found worthy of it, but I would like your opinions as well!**

**So what is this? Well, I've rewatched some episodes and I have noticed that when Jack finds a northen land ravaged by Aku thousands of years ago that is still a dark desert with zero life (Ep. 10 Jack and the Lava Monster), yet when he stumbles upon his homeland it's a lush meadow that looks completely untouched (Ep. 16 Jack Remembers the Past). What did Aku do to those poor Norse that he did not do to the hated Japanese? Here's an answer.  
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**It kinda ties in with a longer fanfiction I'm working on. In that Aku cannot remember his life before Earth, the shock of losing 99% of his body erased the memories. Yet there are extreme cases when he can recall them, so vividly that he thinks those attacks are happening to him on the spot, so he immediately panics.**

**But enough rambling, I hope you enjoy it and please R&R! Let me know the grammatical and other errors and please forgive me for that lame-ass spell around the end (you'll know what I'm talking about). It's hard for me to write poems even in my mother tongue, Hungarian.**

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**Blood Feud**

Out somewhere in the vast northern meadows stood a strange dark tree towering over all. There wasn't much competition to begin with, although some pine trees grew huge in the area. Light breeze raced across the land, but the tree did not budge not even the slightest, its four weirdly-bent branches stayed motionless. Under those things, the trunk suddenly widened into an almost triangle-like shape, that stood on one of its peaks, before resuming once more its normal width. Then, at closer look, one could realize that the base of the tree also spread out like a skirt or a cape and the very bottom was moving, slowly rippling.

Aku stood motionlessly on a smaller hill, deep in thought. One could wonder what would bother the Shogun of Sorrow so much, what braids of thoughts he could be weaving in his complicated and oh-so-inhuman mind. Maybe plans for his next devastating attack. Or plans for celebration due to his victory over that one certain capital city of a certain emperor of a far-off land. Maybe the meaning of life? Demons, spirits were superior beings, they understood nature and the cosmos far better than humans did. Even one born to destruction, such as Aku himself.

Countless other fascinating, maybe horrifying things could have been on the demon's mind. Subjects humans would never think about, perhaps. Yet, on this simple day, Aku had only one simple question running circles in his head:

_Where the hell am I?_

Not really the biggest mystery one can pursue, although it **can** be most troubling. And troubling it was for Aku as he had no memory about how he ended up here. The same question had been bugging him those 6 years ago when he first gained full consciousness and individual body. Although at that time he was occupied with that tiny little human at his feet and later with the sudden urge to destroy, as his new life goal, what he unleashed onto the nearby city. Unfortunately on the same day of his rise, he was once again banished into the ground in the form of a barely conscious tree. He managed to break out of there rather quickly, thanks to the solar eclipse that occurred. What he himself didn't know is how that phenomenon actually freed him. Once again a new addition to the mystery that has woven around his life.

Aku was once a lake of tar-like evil, an entity that consumed everything that stood in its way. Most of the time it slept, though occasionally it tried to sense as much of its surroundings as its primitive mind could handle. He saw fragile creatures covered in fur slowly standing up onto two legs, learning to use their hands to do complicated tasks. He consumed them too… well, at least the ones he could actually reach somehow… why wouldn't he? But he witnessed them (more like dimly sensed) surpassing every other race and develop something completely unique: languages. Unintentionally he learnt the speech closest to him, therefore he knew the words by which these creatures called this world: ground, land, sea, sky, air, wind, clouds, plants, animals, houses, objects… the phrases for their own kind were: "human", "person", "people" among others.

A nearby settlement quickly grew into a big city. Its people feared the entity and it was pleased with it… until the fools actually started attacking with weapons. This infuriated the pit but, being unevolved, a long time passed before it could execute its counterattack. On a fateful night it lunged forward, consuming many of the buildings, its dreaded spear-like trees demolishing the rest of the city, ending many lives at once. The next morning the survivors deserted the remains of the capital. The entity was triumphant. Or so it seemed. The ruler of this land, the _Emperor_ as they called him planned to strike back. Unbeknownst to him, the tar pit had a very large influence on everything in the area… including the monk that was cooking the magic poison that would vanquish it. The entity twisted the naïve human's thoughts just enough to create another potion. One with a… surprising effect. A surprise that the emperor would not enjoy.

And the evil's plan worked. The emperor rode into the heart of the forest of spear-trees on his white steed and with his trusty army of riders. The being killed everyone but him before he could reach it though. Once there, the ruler used the potion on one of his arrows and shot it into the tar pit. Strength surged across it, finally gaining a higher level of existence.

Aku was born thanks to the Emperor.

Yet, a fleeting thought in his mind knew this was not his true beginning. But whenever he grabbed after it, it would slip away. He didn't know where he came from, what he was once, what was his **real** purpose in this world. To destroy and spread misery… that was his current mission. But it was… something else… before all of this. Aku bared his teeth in frustration but couldn't recall it. He didn't even know this world, his roots did not belong here. Every spirit had a connection to their homeworld. He didn't feel one to this planet. Yet here he was. Out of desperation surfaced the idea that maybe if he consumes to riches of the land, he would assimilate. So he enslaved the survival humans of his assault on the city, to gather these power sources… mainly precious gems and minerals. He quickly discovered he could summon lesser evil spirits to his aid so he left the workers in their "care" and set out to explore this planet. He did not wish to attack, to announce his existence. Who knows what other people inhabited this place. Maybe a few of them could proven to be dangerous. Better be safe than sorry after all…

His journey soon led to the cold northern lands of endless pine forests and meadows. There he was now, standing looking for a good disguise. He was an Elemental, therefore did not possess a solid physical body. He could twist it in whatever shape he desired. He noticed that many strange, four-legged, graceful beasts roamed this land. Many of them had large antlers on their heads, making them majestic and awe-inspiring. Aku liked it. So he watched them for a few more hours, memorizing every little detail he could then applied their shape to himself. It took some time, but in the end a pitch-black, thin-legged, long-faced animal stood in the place of the demon, its antlers larger and more beautiful than any other of its "kin". Yeah, Aku couldn't help his vanity.

In his new disguise he roamed the land for days. He stumbled upon many rivers and lakes with crystal clear water, forests dark as night even in broad daylight and high mountains with snowy caps in the distance. A few times he was attacked by the predators of this land, big black- or brown-furred ugly beasts with giant claws and grey-haired, leaner, longer faced ones, but he would either kill them all with a speck of his powers or with his mighty antlers. But other than that, the journey was uneventful… until he stumbled across a well-hidden path in the forest. The black deer froze to its spot once it looked at the ground: tracks left by wooden carts ploughed the muddy ground.

Humans were nearby.

Aku turned to one direction trusting his instincts and followed the tracks with graceful jumps. Soon he reached the edge of the forest and of the hill and stopped. Before him laid a vast sea of grass rippling gently in the wind. Maybe a mile away he spotted a human settlement. The houses were surrounded by a tall and thick wooden wall with four giant gates facing the three main points of the compass. On the northern side laid a bay of a sea with a small port and quite a few battleships with weird, dragon-like noses. In the city the sizes of the buildings grew as they were getting closer to the center, where a large temple stood surrounded by totems of unknown gods. Aku was too far away, his keen eyes could not make out the features of the statues but he could see the city was buzzing with life. People, in strange clothes, mostly made out of animal skin rushed about. They seemed vastly different than the ones at the city of Aku's "birthplace". It was clear that the settlement was living prosperous and good times.

A smaller group emerged from one of the gates and headed to the forest on foot. Aku backed up from the path and willed himself to melt into the shadows of the trees. Twenty minutes passed until the humans reached the spot as they were walking at a slow, comfortable pace. They were hunters, ready to gather game with spears and arrows, but they also seemed like skilled warriors. Their clothes were heavy and thick, perfect against the cold weather. One of them dressed in what appeared to be noble clothes: the animal skins were decorated with iron and silver jewels and buttons and he wore a cape of thick white fur, probably a rare treasure among these parts. Aku watched them pass by, not making a move. He eyed the humans suspiciously.

Something was not right.

He had seen this… style before. He remembered… he **almost** remembered someone with similar clothing. Once he was alone again, he divided from the shadows and began pacing restlessly up and down, trying to reach for this piece of memory with all of his willpower. But once again it eluded him. He got so angry he head-butted a nearby tree which immediately gave in and fell over with a loud crash. Aku let out a vicious snarl and a puffs of steam from his nostrils. He then once again looked at the city then leaped out and began the descend on the side of the hill towards it. He knew he could be easily spotted in the open, especially because of his coloring but he didn't care anymore. The humans would still think him to be an ordinary prey and would attack him with useless spears and arrows, none of which could have harmed him.

He wanted answers. And he **would** get answers, damn it!

Aku strolled to the city. The guards on the walls noticed him but instead of attacking, they just gauged at him with large eyes. This pleased the demon for he knew he chose a most majestic form. But the damn walls were in his way of seeing the temple. He heard the warriors shouting at each other, pointing at him. He did not know what they were saying but he didn't care either. Once he got close enough, with one elegant jump he overcame gravity's pull and soared high up, landing softly and gracefully on the top of the walls. On both sides the guards looked at him wide-eyed and backed up. They probably thought he was a sign from their stupid gods or something, Aku guessed.

He could finally see the temple in all of its glory. It was made out of wood, like every other building, but its sheer size and style were unique. It had a single long nave with a rectangular base and three storey. At the top a smaller tower erupted, ending in a symbol at the very top. In the middle of the longer sides smaller aisles stood with great doors that invited in the people. The totems stood by the walls. Aku recognized none of them… and then he got to the largest, resting over the main entrance. It was a broad powerful man with a great big beard and an eye-patch.

_Darkness… flashes of light…_

The man sat on a horse with eight legs and a proud mane. He wore a cap with two large horns sticking out of it. In his hands

_Golden arrows… blue flames…_

he held a

_Strikes… flashes… pain pain pain PAIN…_

trident of sorts, a deadly weapon.

_Three sharp tips striking into him… divine fire burning him… that horrible, maddening, damnable, unbearable, pointless, ruthless, endless, excruciating __**PAIN**__!_

Aku let out an unearthly howl as he reared back, front legs kicking the air. The humans stumbled back, some of them drew their short but sturdy swords, but the demon already lost his shape and turned into a swirling mass of black flames which shot to the sky after a second of dancing around madly. The warriors watched as it flew backwards, landing a couple yards away from the walls. There it continued its maddened flicker for minutes. Then it froze completely. To their horror, it began to transform ever so slowly and become a horrible monster crouching just outside their city.

Aku lied motionless, staring at the ground before him, his eyes seeing nothing, his ears hearing nothing, his body feeling nothing but cold, flashes of blue, gold, orange and black. And glimpses of the unbearable pain and the faces of his attackers… two murky ones and that bearded, half-eyed man on the eight-legged horse… He could not get away from these pictures he saw. They were his reality now. Without knowing he slowly raised his hands towards the sky while bells rang in alarm among the city walls, causing the humans to panic and flee. To the demon's wordless command, a massive black disk appeared on the sky. It began to grow, covering up the sun completely, eating the sky and the land and soon the entire area was trapped under a dome of eternal darkness. Now the only light sources were some fireplaces inside the city and Aku's flaming eyebrows. Eerie silence took over for a minute. The humans, disoriented by the sudden loss of their vision, did not move nor did the demon who was still trapped inside his memories.

Then Aku launched himself and smashed a giant hole into the wall before him with his bare hands, sending the guards on top of it flying. Fear once again raced across the humans, the elders, children and women began to flee, while the men grabbed their weapons. Some headed to the ports, to ready their ships to battle. By that time Aku had already clawed his way inside the city and began to demolish everything that got in his way. He saw arrows and spears… no, golden tridents engulfed in blue flames flying at him. He dodged, danced away then retaliated with laser beams striking from his eyes. It hit and the humans…no, the half-eyed man cried out in agony. Debris flew everywhere, burnt corpses smacked into the ground or into the still standing soldiers. Aku bounced, determined to claw out the other eye of the warrior. His body, although not solid, was still massive and heavy and with a loud crash the roof of the temple caved in when he landed on it. Aku stumbled inside, the central tower of the building creaked painfully then simply fell on top of the demon, burying him under splintered wooden beams, columns and tiles. No physical harm has come to him yet he let out a cry in alarm. To him, it was the white eight-legged horse that pinned him to the ground. He began trashing around, body slamming against the remaining structures. Soon almost the entire temple crumbled. Aku finally freed himself from under the cursed hooves of the beast and lunged upwards. One hand turning into a viciously sharp blade he slashed at the throat of his attacker, screeching with a terrible high voice in triumph. The humans watched in utter horror by the light of the flames of their burning homes as the demon beheaded the great statue of the King of the Gods, Odin. The monster struck with such force that even the head of the steed Sleipnir came tumbling down. Then the warriors screamed and began to attack to avenge their patron. Archers shot their arrows but the eyeshot was terrible, the fire and smoke consuming their town did not help but merely dimmed the silhouette of the beast. Aku felt harmless weapons piercing his body. He looked down and saw countless small minions of the half-eyed man charging at him. He let a sadistic grin crawl up onto his face as he retaliated. Their master was gone, taking out these small creatures won't be a problem now. He let the arrows dive into his essence then he directed them into his hand and shot them right back at them. His aim was precise: in the darkness they saw nothing and he saw **everything**. He turned into a sea of black mass and charged head-on into the army. He covered them all up, letting them trash and hack and slash with their worthless swords and spears, suffocating them one by one. The black sea did not stop, it streamed into every house, onto every roof and wall and claimed all the lives it could find. Once finished, it turned into a twister of darkness then took up the form of the demon once more.

Aku stopped for a second, face and mind completely blank. He unconsciously let the corpses slowly pour out from within his essence onto the ground. Then another shot of arrows stabbed into his torso. The minions of the half-eyed warrior now attacked from battleships. With a vicious, unearthly snarl, Aku struck the vehicles with laser beams, allowing fire to finish the job. For a second, he thought it was over. Then a loud neighing rang across the burning ruins and from the smoke a black horse jumped out, carrying the same man in the rich clothing who went to hunting in the forest, holding his weapons, screaming curses and oaths at the demon. Once more the white eight-legged horse and its cursed, half-eyed rider appeared before him and Aku roared like a beast, challenging his foe. The warrior threw his spear. Aku saw the golden trident soaring towards him but he dodged it with ease then answered with laser beams that struck the horse. The snow white beast wanted to scream but only rattle escaped its mouth along with smoke and steam as it fell over. With one swift move the monster killed his trusty black steed and the warrior, the king of this land, stumbling on the ground, knew it was all over for him. He sprang to his legs, unsheathed his sword and thrust it towards the sky, bellowing a final prayer to his gods, to accept his soul to Valhalla. Then he began his final charge. The half-eyed man was injured but did not give up. He grabbed a short sword covered in blue flames. Aku danced around him in a swirl of blackness, staying out of reach of the terrible weapon.

- _**I KILLED YOU**_ - he screamed in a language that was unfamiliar to him yet the words rolled off his tongue easily. - _**I KILLED YOU ALREADY! NO MATTER, YOU SHALL FALL AGAIN!**_

The brave warrior stumbled back as the demon swirling around him, avoiding every blow, began to howl at him. At first he taught it was only a roar. But then he realized: these terrible, screechy, haunting sounds were **words**. Words of a language no man could ever understand for it was ancient and divine and not meant for his kin. It struck fear of unimaginable kind into his heart and he wavered. That was all the demon needed. Aku saw his opponent freeze up and took this opportunity. He attacked with a curse that hit the half-eyed man head-on. Instantly a transparent crystal prison formed around his body, rendering him helpless. The demon screamed in triumph as the warrior tried to break the glass, to no avail. He felt hot tears escaping his eyes as he helplessly cursed the monster before him. He had failed to protect his kingdom… and now he was denied of a warrior's end.

Aku once again held his hands high and talked on the same unknown language:

- _**Now watch as I take my revenge on thy lands, accursed warrior! Lands and skies and waters of all, let the braids and shackles of life fall! Animals and plants of all kind, may your corpses be haunted by blight! So says The One Who Drowns the Sun and more, may the land never return to the way it was before!**_

The warrior watched in horror as an orb of dancing black and poison-green patterns appeared and grew among the claws of the demon. The beast was now chanting in the same language that would forever haunt him until the end of times. It must have been a curse, waves of magic rolled over the land with every word. Once the orb was bigger than his own head, Aku stared down to the ground.

- _**And thus, I curse thee!**_ - he hissed and struck down with his hands, slamming the ball into the earth.

His magic merged with the soil and for a second nothing has happened.

The humans who managed to make it out alive from the burning city, were now stumbling in the meadow, blinded by darkness. A few younger women had already reached the edge of the black dome and tried to break through. Alas, its wall was made out of what appeared to be a black gem and the girls couldn't even scratch it, no matter what they used. They were all trapped. As they looked back, they saw the giant figure of the beast standing by the burning ruins with hands held towards the sky, palms opened. An orb appeared among its fingers then the monster threw it at the ground where it disappeared. A moment later, pitch-black waves of light erupted from the same spot and washed over the land. Whatever they reached got pulverized instantly, leaving behind a wasteland covered in ash. As the wave spread, the dome too began to crumble away at its top but the sky was covered in dark clouds with ash raining from them. The survivors screamed and ran but there was no way to avoid the killer magic. The elders, slow and fragile as they were, were the first victims: the light swept across them and in an instant their flesh rotted away, leaving behind staggering skeletons that soon fell onto the ground with a dull thud. The women banged their fists on the gemstone-wall of the dome. Some grabbed their crying children and held them close, trying to shield them away from the approaching magic. They closed their eyes and murmured a soft prayer as the wave washed over all of them.

The rest of the dome crumbled away, leaving behind a perfect circle-shaped piece of land of demolition. The only two living beings there was Aku and the king of the city, trapped in the crystal prison. It was raining ash for countless miles and unnatural silence ruled over everything. Suddenly the demon stumbled and fell onto his back, landing in the dark brown, infertile sand, his eyes closing and eyebrows extinguishing. This last curse sucked every bit of energy out of his body. So he just laid there limply as time went by.

One and half a day passed before his claws twitched. With some loud coughs he stirred, eyes catching on fire once more. He slowly pushed himself up and groggily looked around, his body now more grey than black thanks to the dust covering him. The sight of utter destruction greeted him. The land became a blackish desert, not even the smallest of plants could be seen. From the dunes, remains of buildings, skeletons, weapons and the dragon-shaped noses of ships stuck out as a dark memento of the event. Aku looked around and total confusion ran across his face.

_What has happened here? Did I do this?_

Well… he probably **did** do it, since he was here, but he honestly couldn't recall why or how. He remembered approaching the city in the form of that four-legged antlered animal… then leaping onto the wall… then nothing. He massaged his head, trying to remember, only to be rewarded with murky flashes of burning buildings and humans and a golden trident in blue flames (he was sure he had never seen such a weapon before). That was all. Aku grimaced then let out a stream of curses, before his eyes caught a giant crystal with a man trapped inside. He stared then grinned widely, immediately forgetting about his troubles. He had no idea how the warrior ended up inside there but he didn't really care either. He stood up, grabbed the gem, shook it a few times to make sure the human was still alive (he was and probably cursed the demon in his mother language back and forth), then looked around. He spotted a nearby mountain, flew there with his new "toy" and landed on its peak. He smiled malevolently one last time into the desperate face of the warrior then held the crystal high and thrust it into the core of the mountain with all of his might.

With his work done, Aku dusted himself off, took one last puzzled look at the newborn desert before him, then with a shrug he sprung high up into the cloudy sky and flew away to discover new lands, leaving behind a forever-infertile land and a piece of memory he _almost_ recovered.


End file.
